ATHENS – In a statement released today, The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, KIS, condemned the bristling anti-Semitism that has washed into the Greek press since the beginning of Israel’s operation “Protective Edge” in Gaza.
“We are deeply concerned about the unexpected outburst of historical-like articles, inspired by the age-old traditional racist propaganda, that are purely anti-Semitic,” KIS wrote. “Blackmail insinuations, that [Jews] attribute anti-Semitic intention to all critics of Israel, will not prevent us from characterizing such articles as hideous anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, we do hope that readers can see the distinct line between political analysis and vulgar anti-Semitic propaganda.”
No violent anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish targets and/or individuals have been reported in Greece, KIS says. However, some newspaper articles have heaped blame on the Jews of Greece for not having spoken out against the supposed “genocide” of the Palestinian people and in some cases have justified recent anti-Semitic acts in Europe as retribution for “Zionist crimes”. Others have diminished Holocaust history and drawn parallels between Nazi and Israeli methods and anti-Nazi resistance fighters and Hamas terrorists. Social media has been awash with invective.
In response, KIS Secretary General Victor Eliezer has taken to the airwaves to defend Israel and the Jewish community and published a widely read article, “Propaganda should not alter the truth”, in the mainstream daily Kathimerini. The KIS website disseminates important articles from the foreign press translated into Greek.
In an earlier statement, KIS expressed Greek Jewry’s grief over the loss of life of every innocent person, both Israeli and Palestinian, in the conflict and advocated for a political solution that would guarantee the safety of the State of Israel along with the establishment of an independent Arab Palestinian State side-by-side with Israel.
